0x29A.0.gnu/linux.1010011010.0.*foobar.

|_&&']['20/22.#4[x3/2.|*#!1050|*#`/.
gnu/linux; *nix. c 1 9 being redirected to /dev/null. issues to null@altair.uni.cx.
*alt*.serving./at/.`{altair,algol,antares,arcturus,aldebaran,spica,ceti,vega,fomalhaut,rigel,sirius}./dot/.uni./dot/.cx'.
---- this blog still exists only for historical evidence (to my embarrassment).
some of the non-laughable "articles" can be read at altair.uni.cx/growl/.
:wq.

Monday, November 3, 2008

as expected/promised, 71.86.07/96.43.09 drivers are available.add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list: # `"deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-proposed restricted main multiverse universe"'.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Among the newest GNOME (2.23.91) with its new features (like the improved File Roller archive manager which now has extra support for ALZ, RZIP, CAB, TAR.7Z) and many bug fixes, official DKMS project testing on Intrepid (useful on third-party drivers updating, on a new kernel core update - highly increased stability/compatibility; less work for you), Ubuntu Intrepid Alpha 5 has began the official evaluation of kernel 2.6.27 (available for install since 28 August - AFAIK) for Ubuntu 8.10; also, the "Last successful boot" implementation (adding a last successful option on GRUB's /boot/grub/menu.lst, each time the boot process is successful - by making a copy of the running kernel), useful in APT's autoremove feature (by making it more safer - speaking of kernels).

Thursday, September 4, 2008

In the film, Stephen Fry talks about freedom, comparing the free software operating system to "good science" and contrasts it with the tyranny _imposed_ by the proprietary software.Mr. Fry also encourages people to use free GNU/Linux distributions.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

while it's not yet packaged for *nix-based systems, chromium code is available for downloading/installing on a gnu/linux machine (so, i and my buddy ed tried it out last night, to see what we can get).

however, due to extreme loading, depot_tools from
src.chromium.org/svn/trunk/depot_tools/linux depot_tools's svn were unable to get the source (src path).
then I decided to throw a wget on chromium's /svn/trunk/src (http://src.chromium.org/svn/trunk/src), downloading the source (btw, you will probably have scons already installed - found on third-party/ dir, anyway).

in the meantime, the folks uploaded an updated version of chromium (equivalent of depot_tool's gclient sync - full synchronization was a subject to avoid just a few hours ago). so, check it out, compile it with scons (scons Hammer in /chromium/src/chrome/); give it a try.

update: this morning, i gave wine (wine-1.1.3) a chance. chromium ran, then crashed, but at least now I can take a tiny look under the hood (use this build).

() /exec true.

it uses the v8 javascript engine, (unique) multi-process architecture, "giving back memory" implementation, (first!) webkit implementation on mswin.
also, chromium is very challenging to debug (it has about:memory facility, its own taskman, etc.). have fun.

Friday, August 29, 2008

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for theupcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release.

You can either install the linux-image-2.6.27-* package (currently available for testing),or wait for the upcoming Alpha 5 (to be released Thursday September 4) for Intrepid, which will contain the 2.6.27 kernel.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Ubuntu 8.10 (code name Intrepid Ibex), scheduled for final release on October 30th 2008 is moving forward to the absolute greatest software of the Open Source Community.

The Intrepid Ibex Alpha 2 (July 10th), is the second alpha release of Ubuntu 8.10, which, along with the very new improved features (package merge from Debian, also with brand new packages and heavy upgrading of the existing ones, Xorg - X11R7.4 with new and upgraded modules, apps/utils/drivers/libs, featuring xserver 1.5 - currently RC5 ), runs on 2.6.26-3.9 kernel, based on 2.6.26-rc8 (2.6.26-rc9 soon). The new kernel, announced on 13 Jul 2008, by Linus Torvalds, along with its stable release has many improvements from 2.6.25 (including EXT4 new - experimental - features, built-in support for remote KGDB debugging, new KVM ports and USB Video Class driver, build-in-kernel memtest, /proc/pid/mountinfo, read-only bind mounts, wireless mesh networking support, security= boot parameter, and much more stuff), along with lots of driver additions and some architecture-specific enhancements. Oh, let's not forget about the Kernel Hacking make options, where you can configure and test some of the new features.

However, there still is massively increased video drivers instability, so, while this still is an alpha release, you are advised not to install it on production machines. In the meanwhile, you can report bugs through the Ubuntu bugtracker. : )

Saturday, May 24, 2008

as you probably know already, there's been a security alert for openssl.

canonical:

”A weakness has been discovered in the random number generator used by OpenSSL on Debian and Ubuntu systems. As a result of this weakness, certain encryption keys are much more common than they should be, such that an attacker could guess the key through a brute-force attack given minimal knowledge of the system. This particularly affects the use of encryption keys in OpenSSH.”

debian:

“It is strongly recommended that all cryptographic key material which has been generated by OpenSSL versions starting with 0.9.8c-1 on Debian systems is recreated from scratch. Furthermore, all DSA keys ever used on affected Debian systems for signing or authentication purposes should be considered compromised; the Digital Signature Algorithm relies on a secret random value used during signature generation.” (From the Debian Alert).

launchpad:

“You need to take action to continue using Launchpad features such as code hosting. We have deleted your SSH key from Launchpad because we have discovered a potential security vulnerability in the way your key was generated.”

also reported on _the_fridge_ for ubuntu (http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1445/).

however, this situation occurred as the result of a programming bug, not as the result of making some weak key.we all thank luciano bello, who discovered that the random number generator in deb's openssl package is predictable.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Along with Ubuntu 8.04, Kiwilinux 8.04, the Ubuntu derivative mostly for Romanian and Hungarian users is released!It is compatible with Ubuntu, the changes are minimal, but important for first time GNU/Linux users and also for the local users.As always, switching back and forth between Ubuntu and Kiwilinux is very easy.

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, The Hardy Heron is officially released!Everyone is invited to test this new version of the most popular (and the best) GNU/Linux distro, Ubuntu.## Get Ubuntu.http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download.## Upgrade Ubuntu.$# sudo apt-get update -uV.$# sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -fumV.

## # Super Cow Powers, on Debian:## 'apt-get --help'. At the end, apt-get shall print "This APT has Super Cow Power".# Now, do the same with aptitude.# 'aptitude --help'. This time, it shall print "This aptitude does not have Super Cow Powers".# OK now. So you're wondering what's with this Super Cow, isn't it?# Just execute 'apt-get moo'. Nice, isn't it? Hackers' love for cow is materialized in a cool easter egg. : ).# But, what's the thing with aptitude, which doesn't have Super Cow Power?# Again, 'aptitude moo'.# To figure it out, increase the verbose level (appending a '-v'), until it stops telling new things. Enjoy it!# PS: This is a reference to Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger de Saint-Exupéry's "Le Petit Prince" (The Little Prince).### # .

## # Into the void:# # GAG: open a shell and type 'ddate'.## In a shell, mistype ls (as sl)... and see the results.## While at a console, type in: 'grep -r /usr/src/*'.## 'grep LINUX_REBOOT_MAGIC include/linux/*.h' - parameters used in reboot() system call (like 369367448, or 0xfee1dead). Convert the\# output using perl, e.g. 'perl -e 'print localtime(). "\n";'' (those are important dates for Linus Torvalds). : ).## 'zgrep "The.*Release" /usr/share/doc/dpkg/changelog.Debian.gz' in a shell. Obviously, Debian-related.## '/usr/libexec/redhat-credits' on Red Hat.## In vim, type :help 42 (This is a reference to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy").## "You don't exist. Go away." message, when invoking UID doesn't correspond to a valid user, or if the session isn't properly registered in utmp.\# (find it out by 'strings /sbin/shutdown' - oh ,also there, "Oh hello Mr. Tyler - going DOWN?"; reference to Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator"\# video.).# BTW, "Oh hello Mr. Tyler - going DOWN?" can be seen on the logout of a 'tyler'-called user name (e.g. at reboot/shutdown).## Once in /var/named, open localhost.zone and localdomain.zone in a text editor.# There, related to 127.0.0.1, somewhere the serial is set to 42; also commented ("(d. adams)") (Reference to Douglas Adam's book series# The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is famous for stating that the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is equal to 42.).## 'cowsay -f foobar !#' in a shell, foobar == any.file.from /usr/share/cowsay/cows/.## 'ar r God' in a shell.## 'nice man woman' in a shell.## '^How did the sex operatino go?^' in a shell.## If you boot a SuSE disc, after the greeting the bootsplash, hit F5.## Give it a try: 'man grep | tail -n7'. Ubuntu Specific.### # .

## # Firefox:## 'about:mozilla' in the address bar.## 'about:credits' in the address bar.## 'about:robots' in the address bar.## 'about:cvrcek' in the address bar.## 'about:kitchensink' in the address bar.## 'chrome://browser/content/browser.xul' in the address bar.### # .